Xunta de Galicia blocks former drug trafficker Oubiña's 'narcotour' on the ría de Arousa

The venture

Laureano Oubiña, an 80-year-old former drug trafficker from Cambados, Galicia, planned to launch a boat tour called "Ruta del Narcotráfico" on 29 August 2026, departing from the port of O Grove. The nine-hour journey would navigate fifteen locations around the ría de Arousa, including Carril, Rianxo, the mouth of the river Ulla, Ribeira, Aguiño, and the islands of Sálvora and Ons, with a lunch stop on Ons. Oubiña, convicted for contraband, hashish trafficking, and money laundering, spent between 20 and 30 years in prison before his release in 2017. He would serve as guide aboard the vessel, recounting his experiences from the 1970s through 2000. The tour was promoted through his Instagram account, where he has accumulated between 85,000 and 87,000 followers.

The regulatory block

The Xunta de Galicia's tourism inspection office acted on its own initiative and opened a sanctioning proceeding on 7 August, determining that the activity constitutes a "tourist package" under the 2011 Galician Tourism Law. Such packages may only be organized and sold by travel agencies registered in the Registro de Empresas y Actividades Turísticas (REAT). The tour was being marketed through Pejurito S.L.U., a company Oubiña created to sell books, wine, and merchandise, based in Vilanova de Arousa. The company holds no tourism authorization. Providing tourism services without prior authorization is classified as a serious infringement, carrying fines between 901 and 9,000 euros. The inspection file also argued that the promotion harms Galicia's tourism image by linking the region to one of the most lamentable social episodes for the citizenry and damaging a quality tourism brand consolidated over more than 30 years.

Oubiña's response

Oubiña, who has roughly three weeks to bring the project into compliance, expressed indignation and vowed to fight the decision in court.

They're really busting my balls

He insisted he would register the company as a travel agency and continue with the plan.

I don't have the right to work honestly. What do they want, for me to go back to my old ways? I'm not going to do it

He also declared he would keep going with the idea until the last moment and that they would see each other in court.

Ticket sales and capacity

Tickets were sold through Oubiña's website at two price points: a first batch at 189 euros (one source cites a range of 189 to 190 euros) for the main deck, and a second batch at 99 euros for the lower deck of the catamaran, where passengers would follow explanations via loudspeaker. The vessel's capacity was reported as 250 passengers by several sources, though one article cited a maximum of 150. By the time the sanctioning proceeding was opened, roughly half the available spots had been sold.

Political and social reactions

Diego Calvo, the conselleiro de Presidencia of the Xunta, criticized the initiative.

Someone was trying to organize or get some kind of profit from this activity

Anti-drug associations in Galicia expressed relief at the block. Public opinion was divided: some residents considered the route "a beautiful tour" and "part of what has happened in Galicia," while others supported the cancellation. Oubiña's criminal history is linked to Operación Nécora, the 1990 police operation that targeted Galician drug organizations, and his judicial proceedings provoked mass demonstrations in Galicia during the 1980s and 1990s, when Spain was one of the main entry points for drugs into Europe.